They waste your time and they make your customers mistrustful of any phone calls—nuisance calls are well named.

When it comes to the question of how to stop nuisance calls, you’ll be relieved to find out that the answer can actually be quite simple.

In this blog post, we'll walk you through how to stop spam calls on landlines, mobile phones, and more.

How to block nuisance calls on landlines

It’s frustrating when your landline rings, you stop what you’re doing to answer it, and the person on the other end of the line only wants to waste your time. So, let’s see how to block spam calls on your landline.

You’ll want to start by considering specific products that can block some calls. For instance, you can invest in call blockers that attach to your landline phone and block withheld or international numbers. However, you need to be careful that this won’t prevent you from receiving calls you do want.

Your landline provider should also be able to help you with blocking nuisance calls. All you have to do is get in touch with them and discuss your options.

In the UK, too, you can register your number with the TPS (Telephone Preference Service). Doing this makes it illegal for unwarranted callers to contact you. (It won’t prevent all scammers from making an attempt, but it can certainly help.)

How to stop nuisance calls on mobile phones

Whereas your options are somewhat limited with traditional landlines, you can arguably stop nuisance phone calls more easily on your mobile device.

Speaking with your phone provider is once again a good first step to get rid of nuisance calls. They’ll be able to implement anti-nuisance measures that filter calls coming to your device.

It’s also perfectly possible—and advisable—to register your mobile number with the TPS.

On top of those measures, you could choose to subscribe to or download software with dedicated features to guard against nuisance calls to your mobile device.

How to stop nuisance calls with a collaboration platform like Dialpad

Nuisance calls to your personal landline or mobile are bad enough. Unwanted and spam calls to your business, though, can cost you time and money.

Fortunately, if you invest in a specialised collaboration or customer engagement platform for your business, you’ll get features dedicated to helping you deal with nuisance phone calls.

Dialpad, for example, has a built-in call blocking feature that makes it easier to protect yourself from nuisance calls from specific phone numbers:

Spam blocking with Dialpad works on two levels, both based upon a spam score that’s applied to incoming calls. These scores range from zero to 100, with 100 denoting a call that’s all but certain to be spam. The scores are applied and maintained by reliable third-party sources.

The first level of Dialpad’s spam blocking is automatic. Any call with a score of 100 is instantly blocked. There’s then a self-service second level. You can choose different options—blocking, sending to voicemail, and more—for handling any “high spam score” calls, with a rating of 90 or above.

That’s not all, either. You can also set call screening rules for any inbound calls from anonymous callers or callers not already in your contacts list.

Your three options are:

• Send the caller directly to voicemail and consign the message to your spam folder.

• Send the caller directly to voicemail but receive a real-time transcription.

• Require that the caller state their name and then have the recording played to you when you pick up.

The other side of the coin: Making sure your calls aren’t blocked

While it’s important to protect your business from incoming nuisance calls, you don’t want customers or contacts to think your calls are spam. Dialpad can help you here, too, by allowing you to use a local phone number they recognise.

This helps to prevent them from wrongly assuming calls from your number are overseas nuisance calls or other forms of spam.

With Dialpad, you can set up virtual local numbers in minutes, and managing your numbers is easy:

Alternatively, you could choose a vanity number that will be memorable and instantly recognisable to your customers. Once again, it’s a layer of protection against getting your calls blocked or ignored.

Report nuisance calls when you do receive them: How and who to

The TPS does more than help you to stop nuisance calls. It’s also there for you if and when you’ve received a call you didn’t want.

If you’re signed up to the TPS, reporting nuisance calls is simple. You simply need to reach out and supply it with the number that called you, alongside any details to help it narrow down who the caller might be.

The Information Commissioner’s Office is somewhere else you can turn for reporting spam calls in the UK. It’s authorised to take action against anyone found to be hassling you with frustrating nuisance calls, after conducting an investigation of those callers.

When reporting these calls, make sure to state when you received the calls in question. This further helps the proper authorities to stop the callers from continuing to bother you.

As a side note, you’re also able to report spam or nuisance texts to the same bodies. You can simply forward texts to the TPS for free on 7726, which spells S-P-A-M on your phone.

Don’t let nuisance callers derail your business

As frustrating as they can be, nuisance calls are not by any means unavoidable. By taking the right kinds of action, you can reduce or outright eliminate nuisance calls to your business.

All you need is the know-how to stop nuisance calls, as well as the right tools to keep you safe from as many as possible.